Box Score The Dominican University men's volleyball team fell behind early and couldn't recover in a four-set (25-22, 28-26, 22-25, 31-29) loss to the visiting Ramapo College Roadrunners on Tuesday afternoon. The match was the first in a tri-match featuring the Stars, Roadrunners and MSOE Raiders.

With the first set tied at 8-8, the Stars saw the Roadrunners rattle off nine of the next 13 points to open a 17-12 lead. Dominican crept back in the set at 23-21 before a kill by Ramapo's Andrew Balint and a Dominican service error handed the Roadrunners a 1-0 lead.

The Stars committed a total of 14 total errors in the set, including nine hitting errors and two service errors. Despite five kills from Jeremy Royko (Naperville, Ill.) and three from Charlie Spry (Barrington, Ill.), Dominican managed to hit just .032 in the set with nine attack errors to ten kills on 31 swings. Across the net, the Roadrunners, led by Ajhon Petty's four kills, posted a .176 attack percentage in the opening set.

The Stars jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second set before Ramapo came roaring back, eventually evening the set at 11-11. The sides traded points until Dominican opened a 21-18 lead on a kill by Zachery Sinn (Winfield, Ill.) forcing a Roadrunner timeout. Dominican served for set point 24-22 before the Roadrunners rallied for three-points to take a 25-24 lead. A kill by Spry evened the score again at 25-25 but then a Dominican service error had the Roadrunners serving for set point again at 26-26. Royko evened the frame at 26-26 with his fifth kill of the set before a Ramapo block followed by a Dominican attack error put the Stars in an 0-2 hole.

The Stars squeaked out the third set behind a 72-percent sideout percentage and three total blocks. The Roadrunners also committed six service errors in the set as Dominican looked to start its comeback.

Riding the momentum of the third set, Dominican opened a 13-9 lead in the fourth set. Nicholas Costa (Oak Lawn, Ill.) pushed the Stars' lead to 16-12 with a kill before Ramapo went on a 6-1 run to claw back into the set, taking an 18-17 lead. The sides traded eight leads and 17 ties in the fourth set with the Roadrunners closing out the match with a block by Petty and Nick Amos on Sinn.

Dominican committed 32 attack errors in the loss, posting a .146 hitting percentage. Alex Coyne (Naperville, Ill.) dished out 45 assists for the Stars with Sinn collecting a team-high 15 kills. Royko added 13 kills in the losing effort.

Defensively, Brooks Nevrly (Downers Grove, Ill.) posted a match-high 16 digs for Dominican while Mason Solbrig (Lake Villa, Ill.) tallied five total blocks (1 BS/4 BA).

Petty paced the Roadrunners' offensive attack with 27 kills on 56 swings while committing just seven errors. Andrew Balint logged 47 assists in the four-set victory.

The loss drops the Stars to 9-11 on the season. Dominican will be back in action at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday evening, looking to knock off the MSOE Raiders in a non-conference tilt.